TaxProf Blog

2013 Vault Law Firm Tax Rankings

Vault has released its annual ranking of the Top 100 Law Firms, based on prestige as voted on by associates (methodology here). The Top Tax Practices are:

Rank	Firm	Home City	% Vote
1	Skadden	New York	42.04%
2	Davis Polk	New York	23.13%
3	Cleary Gottleib	New York	22.89%
4	Sullivan & Cromwell	New York	21.89%
5	Cravath	New York	19.40%
6	Wachtell	New York	16.17%
7	Baker & McKenzie	Chicago	15.17%
8	McDermott, Will & Emery	Chicago	12.94%
9	Simpson, Thacher & Bertlett	New York	10.45%
9	Caplin & Drysdale	D.C.	10.45%
11	Weil Gotchal & Manges	New York	9.95%
12	Kirkland & Ellis	Chicago	9.70%
13	Latham & Watkins	New York	6.97%
14	Mayer Brown	Chicago	6.72%
15	Bingham McCutchen	Boston	5.22%
15	Sutherland Asbill	D.C.	5.22%
17	Jones Day	D.C.	4.98%

For the fourth year in a row, Skadden is #1 and New York City tax firms take up the Top 6 slots. The city rankings are:

1. New York (9)
2. Chicago (4)
3. D.C. (3)
4. Boston (1)

For prior years' Vault Law Firm Tax Rankings, see:

• 2010
• 2011
• 2012

Law Firm Tax Rankings: Skadden Is #1

Here are the Top Law Firm Tax Rankings, which give equal weight to the Chambers (based on interviews with lawyers and clients) and Vault (based on surveys of associates at the Top 165 law firms) law firm tax rankings:

Rank	Firm	Chambers	Vault
1	Skadden	1	1
2	McDermott Will & Emery	5	7
3	Baker & McKenzie	5	8
	Cleary Gottleib	11	2
5	Davis Polk	11	3
6	Sullivan & Cromwell	11	4
7	Wachtell, Lipton	11	6
8	Cravath	15	5
9	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	15	9
10	Kirkland & Ellis	15	10
11	Bingham McCutchen	2
	Latham & Watkins	2
	Mayer Brown	2
14	Dewey & LeBoeuf	7
15	Fulbright & Jaworski	8
16	Sutherland Asbill & Brennan	8
	Steptoe & Johnson	8
18	Debevoise & Plimpton	15
	Weil, Gotchal & Manges	15
	Miller & Chevalier	15
21	Baker & Botts	21
	Cadwalader	21
	Caplin & Drysdale	21
	Chamberlain, Hrdlicka	21
	Paul, Weiss	21
	Ropes & Gray	21
	Shearman & Sterling	21
	Sidley Austin	21
29	Alston & Baird	29
	Dechert	29
	Fenwick & West	29
	Gibson, Dunn	29
	Irell & Manella	29
	Ivins, Phillips & Barker	29
	King & Spalding	29
	O’Melveny & Myers	29
	Morgan, Lewis & Bockius	29
	Pillsbury	29
	Roberts & Holland	29
	Vinson & Elkins	29
	White & Case	29

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vault Law Firm Tax Rankings

Vault has released its annual ranking of the Top 100 Law Firms, based on prestige as voted on by associates.  The Top Tax Practices, based on this methodology, are:

Rank	Firm	Home City	% Vote
1	Skadden	New York	38.58%
2	Cleary Gottleib	New York	27.03%
3	Davis Polk	New York	21.52%
4	Sullivan & Cromwell	New York	19.95%
5	Cravath	New York	18.11%
6	Wachtell	New York	17.85%
7	McDermott, Will & Emery	Chicago	13.12%
8	Baker & McKenzie	Chicago	12.07%
9	Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett	New York	11.81%
10	Kirkland & Ellis	Chicago	11.55%

Law Firm Tax Rankings: Skadden Is #1

This week, I have blogged the separate law firm tax rankings in the corporate tax and tax controversy areas developed by Chambers as part of its rankings of the top U.S. law firms by various specialities.  The rankings are based on 30-minute interviews with lawyers and clients (greater weight is given to the views of clients) (methodology).

There are 41 law firms ranked in the two tax categories, grouped in four bands.  Here is a ranking of the law firms that combines the two tax rankings, beginning with the ten firms that are listed in both rankings:

Rank	Firm	Corporate Tax	Tax Controversy
1	Skadden	1	1
2	Bingham McCutchen	3	1
	Latham & Watkins	2	2
	Mayer Brown	3	1
5	Baker & McKenzie	3	2
	McDermott Will & Emery	3	2
7	Dewey & LeBoeuf	3	3
8	Fulbright & Jaworski	4	3
	Sutherland Asbill & Brennan	4	3
	Steptoe & Johnson	4	4
11	Cleary Gottleib	1
	Davis Polk	1
	Sullivan & Cromwell	1
	Wachtell, Lipton	1
15	Cravath	2
	Debevoise & Plimpton	2
	Kirkland & Ellis	2
	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	2
	Weil, Gotchal & Manges	2
	Miller & Chevalier		2
21	Baker & Botts	3
	Cadwalader	3
	Caplin & Drysdale		3
	Chamberlain, Hrdlicka		3
	Paul, Weiss	3
	Ropes & Gray	3
	Shearman & Sterling	3
	Sidley Austin	3
29	Alston & Baird	4
	Dechert	4
	Fenwick & West	4
	Gibson, Dunn	4
	Irell & Manella	4
	Ivins, Phillips & Barker	4
	King & Spalding	4
	O’Melveny & Myers	4
	Morgan, Lewis & Bockius		4
	Pillsbury		4
	Roberts & Holland		4
	Vinson & Elkins	4
	White & Case		4

 

Law Firm Tax Controversy Rankings

Chambers has updated its rankings of the top U.S. law firms by various specialities.  The rankings are based on 30-minute interviews with lawyers and clients (greater weight is given to the views of clients) (methodology). Here are the top Top 17 U.S. law firms in the area of Tax Controversy, grouped in four bands:

Band #1:

• Bingham McCutchen
• Mayer Brown
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Band #2:

• Baker & McKenzie
• Latham & Watkins
• McDermott Will & Emery
• Miller & Chevalier

Band #3:

• Caplin & Drysdale
• Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin
• Dewey & LeBoeuf
• Fulbright & Jaworski
• Sutherland Asbill & Brennan

Band #4:

• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
• Roberts & Holland
• Steptoe & Johnson
• White & Case

Law Firm Corporate Tax Rankings

Chambers has updated its rankings of the top U.S. law firms by various specialities.  The rankings are based on 30-minute interviews with lawyers and clients (greater weight is given to the views of clients) (methodology). Here are the top Top 35 U.S. law firms in the area of Tax: Corporate and Finance, grouped in four bands:

Band #1:

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
• Sullivan & Cromwell
• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Band #2:

• Cravath, Swaine & Moore
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Latham & Watkins
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Band #3:

• Baker & McKenzie
• Baker Botts
• Bingham McCutchen
• Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
• Dewey & LeBoeuf
• Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
• Mayer Brown
• McDermott Will & Emery
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
• Ropes & Gray
• Shearman & Sterling
• Sidley Austin

Band #4:

• Alston & Bird
• Dechert
• Fenwick & West
• Fulbright & Jaworski
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
• Irell & Manella
• Ivins, Phillips & Barker
• King & Spalding
• O'Melveny & Myers
• Steptoe & Johnson
• Sutherland Asbill & Brennan
• Vinson & Elkins